Never Too Late
by Nell Greenwood
Summary: Was The Light That Chases Away the Darkness. AU dark fic. Lorelai gets raped and runs to Stars Hollow. Who will save her from herself? Deals with rape & cutting. And I will admit the 1st 2 chapters kinda suck but it does get better I swear. JavaJunkie
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so this is Pre-Rory. Normally it would take place in the early 80's, but just pretend that it takes place in some dimension where there is no time or something. I'm virtually useless with 80's related stuff for the most part so I changed it to make it somewhat easier for me to right. Like I said very AU. Very dark because I have yet to write a story thats not. Just remember the ending will be happy. I promise. Also if anyones interested in being my beta that'd be amazing cause I suck at editing my own stuff. I'm doing the 1st 2 chapters cause their short. I'll try to make them longer but I make no promises. Also please I beg of you to review. I'm still new at this and I need all the feedback I can get. No flames though. It's a waste of everyones time, especially the flamers. I also dont own anything except a couple of original characters I threw in because I needed something extra for the story.**

Light That Chases Away the Darkness

Lorelai slowly woke up. Struggling against the reality of wakefulness. She came to full awareness when she realized that she hurt all over. Memories of last night came crashing into her head. Her begging him to stop while he forced himself on her. Probably the only time she ever regretted not going to one of her parents stupid society functions. How was she going to tell her parents? They loved Christopher. They'd never believe he'd do something to hurt her. They'd never believe he'd rape her.

She got up and walked to the bathroom, got into the shower. Trying to wash away the stain of the night before. As the water crashed onto her, tears started flowing down her face. She sat down in the corner of the tub and gave herself over to the sobs. Hoping the shower would drown out the sound of her sobs. Somehow, through the sound of the shower she heard her mother knocking on her door calling her name, "Lorelai, Lorelai are you in there?"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Lorelai turned the water off and grabbed her robe. Tying it to the side as she opened the door.

"Ah so there you are. I was starting to worry."

"I was in the shower."

"I can see that. It's about time you were up. It's getting late and you've missed breakfast."

"That's fine. I'm not really hungry."

"Well obviously or you would've been up hours ago. What happened to your neck?"

Lorelai moved her hand up to her neck and had a flashback to the night before and Chris choking her when she tried to scream. Lorelai fell against the door frame and fought back tears.

"Lorelai, what's wrong?" Emily questioned, motherly concern showing in her voice. "Um," Lorelai whispered as she wiped away the tears. "Let me get dressed and tell you downstairs." She said after a long pause trying to regain some semblance of composure. "It'll be easier to tell both you and dad."

"Fine," Emily said. "I'll get your father."

Lorelai walked into the front room. Still trying to figure out how she was going to explain exactly what happened to her parents. Emily and Richard were already there. Sitting on the couch. Lorelai sat one of the chairs opposite.

"Well Lorelai?" Emily asked with and impatient edge to the motherly concern in her voice. "Yes Lorelai. I have to get to work so please tell us."

"Um," Lorelai started, "I know your gonna find this hard to believe. But while you were out last night, Chris came over. And we broke into the liquor cabinet."

Emily and Richard nodded knowing that this happened on occasion. Lorelai had stopped there trying to gather her thoughts into something cohesive.

"Chris got really drunk and kept trying to make me sleep with him but I wouldn't cause I knew how drunk he was. But he kept trying and finally he got sick of it and he raped me." Lorelai said it all in a big rush knowing she would break down if she didn't. She broke down now. Knowing it was done. Her parents knew. "That's why I have these bruises on my neck. Chris choked me when I tried to scream."

Emily and Richard just sat there in total shock. "That little bastard!" Richard finally exploded. "How dare he hurt my daughter like that?! I'm going to call Straub right now."

"What good will that do Richard? He won't listen. And if Francine finds out it will be all over the DAR within hours. I will not be made a mockery of."

"I don't care Emily. That boy has hurt my daughter. And if I ever see him again I will not be held responsible for my actions." With that Richard stormed into his study and slammed the door. Within minutes they heard yelling.

"So," Lorelai said. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Lorelai." And with that Emily walked out of the room.

Leaving Lorelai sitting there wishing desperately she could turn back time and change what happened last night.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took me so long to upload. My life has been stupidly insane lately with crazy work stuff. I do however have more of the story written this time. I just need to get it in my computer. This chapters un beta-ed because I lost her e-mail address. So if I missed anything I'm sincerely sorry. This chapter is longer. I feel very proud of myself cause I didn't think I'd be able to do it. **

**Disclaimer: Charron, Dorothea and Lemay are mine. Other than that however, I own nada. It's very tragic.**

Chapter 3

2 Days later

Lorelai was at school with her best friend Charron. She hadn't told her anything about what had happened yet. She was so scared that Charron would confront Christopher about it and after what had happened with her parents when she told them she wasnt going to risk it.

She was sure Chris was going to confront her about it. She

just didnt know when.

"Hey Lorelai, you ok? You seem off in your own world.?

"Sorry Char. Just thinking."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Not yet. I have to figure this out."

"Ok. But when your ready you know where to find me."

"Of course. With me, right next to the coffee cart." Lorelai

said with a laugh as they walked into school.

As Lorelai was walking to the cafeteria for lunch, feeling

very grateful that she had yet to face Chris. She felt herself being pulled violently into an empty classroom. Chris pulled the blind down and locked the door.

"Chris what the hell are you doing?"

"I told you not to tell anyone!" He exploded as he slammed

her against the wall. "Your dad called mine and freaked out on him. Then my dad freaked out on me, started talking about sending me to military school. Now I distinctly remember telling you to keep your mouth shut." He said as he slammed her against the wall again.

_Chris was doing up his pants and then kissed Lorelai on_

_the forehead. "Don't tell anyone." He whispered. "Or I'll make sure you pay."_

Lorelai was brought back to the present with another slam.

"Maybe this will teach you to listen better." He whispered

into her ear and then threw her to the floor.

Lorelai hit her head on the corner of the desk and the last thing she thought before the darkness enveloped her was wondering how she was gonna explain this to her parents.

Charron was walking to her next class with her friend

Dorothea. "Hey Char, where's Lorelai?" Dorothea asked. "I don't know. She was pretty spaced out earlier. Maybe she went someplace to figure it out."

"Yeah maybe," Dorothea said as they came up to their

classroom to find a crowd surrounding the door.

"Hey what's going on?" Charron asked one of the guys standing closest to the door. "Doors locked. No one can find the key."

"Did you try breaking it down?" Char asked trying to keep the disdain from showing to much. And suddenly feeling very scared. "Not yet. Lemay went to see about getting the master key from the headmaster."

"I've got it." Lemay said rounding the corner. And walking

to the door. "Char, Lorelai isn't here," Dorothea said after doing a quick scan of the crowd. "I know Dorothea." Char said quietly. Lemay opened the door and Char cut in front of him just in time to see Christopher trying to get his pants done up before anyone saw him. Lorelai was on the floor bleeding from a cut on her head.

"You douchebag" She yelled.

"I didn't do any..."

"Can it Hayden I'm not dumb. I know what you did.

Why don't you just own up to your stupidity for once in your life. I mean come on there are witnesses right here who will attest to what we all saw."

"I don't know what your talking about."

"Bullshit!" Char yelled and she moved threateningly towards him. Before she could get any closer to him 3 paramedics and 2 policemen rushed in.

"Thank you Miss Dugrey. Your tirade kept him occupied long enough for the police to get here. Lemay said.

Charron just stood there glaring at Christopher as one of

the policemen handcuffed him and read him his Miranda rights and the other officer walked up to her and asked for her statement. Lemay made sure the other students stood well back so they wouldn't be in the way. Char felt tears flowing down her face wishing she could go with her friend to be there for her.

The next day Lorelai lay on her bed having just got

home. Pleading exhaustion and knowing her parents had pulled her out of school for the remainder of the semester to give her time to recover. She wished they hadn't she knew by the time the next semester started she'd wanna kill her parents. But whatever.

She wished desperately she had something better to do than

lie there thinking when all she wanted to do was forget. Forget the events of the weekend and the day before. Forget it all and just vanish into the haze of blackness that seemed to be surrounding her. She wanted to cry so badly to even just know that she could feel something but it was like yesterday had just shut her emotions off.

She had an idea then. Something she remember hearing Dorothea talk about. She got up and walked to the bathroom, locking the door behind her just in case. She found her razor and pressed it against her arm. Far enough up that she wouldn't accidentally hit a vein or something. She gasped a little at the sensation and then smiled a little. Making another cut just above the first. She rummaged through the medicine cabinet and found some gauze to keep them from bleeding through her clothes. Rolling her sleeve down she went back to her room and slept.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yay new chapter:P I'm getting better at this. Ok so because I forgot to do this earlier. Lorelai's 16. I'm making Luke 21 because it works better with my story and I recently found out that Scott Patterson is nearly 10 years older than Lauren Graham so I fugyred it'd be believable since I don't remember ever finding out how old Luke is on the show. Many thanks to my reviewers, and to my beta Roxxy117. **

**Disclaimer: I own nada.**

Chapter 4

Three weeks later, Chris had gotten out of jail on bail. The advantages of the idle rich, she thought cynically. Her parents got a restraining order, so Chris couldn't come near her.

Lorelai had been withdrawing from her parents, though. She knew they were trying to help her, but considering she felt like her parents didn't really know her before, it was even worse now.

She and Emily fought all the time. It didn't matter what about, they never did anything but fight. Lorelai and Richard didn't talk at all except for the occasional greeting. The one subject they never brought up was the rape or anything relating to it. She knew her parents felt ashamed but she knew they knew it wasn't her fault.

Lorelai was sitting in her bedroom, waiting impatiently to find out what the test revealed. She rubbed her hands over the scars and new cuts on her arms. Wincing a little when she hit a little harder than she had intended. The cutting had become her addiction. The one thing that made her feel good, even normal, anymore.

It had been five minutes, she figured that had been long enough. She walked into the bathroom and picked up the strip. With a deep breath, she turned it over. She was pregnant.  
"I've got to get out of here," she whispered.

No way in hell was she raising a child here. Considering her hatred of her upbringing and the stigma that she was sure would come with being a child of a rapist.

No way in hell.

Lorelai sat in a public library on the other side of the city from her home. Looking through maps of Connecticut and newspapers, to see if there were any mentions of places she could easily get to. Close enough that a bus ticket wouldn't break the bank, but far enough away that her parents wouldn't be able to find her until she wanted them to.

There were a few places, Litchfield, Granville, Woolerton and Stars Hollow, were the ones she figured she'd be able to afford. She started looking through the newspapers. There were several for Litchfield and Granville so she took those off her list. A few for Woolerton but she figured with a name like that it'd be a pretty weird place to live. She couldn't find anything for Stars Hollow. Perfect, she thought.

She went to the bus station and asked how far it was to Stars Hollow. It was only about 30 minutes away. A little close for her liking but considering it looked like a pretty under the radar town, plus she couldn't find anything for it at the library, she bought the ticket for the next day anyway.

She went home to start packing her essentials. She knew she had her bank account with monthly allowances, which would bring in some money. After that ran out, she figured she'd just find a job. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult.

The next day, she got off the bus in Stars Hollow. She had cleaned out her bank account, which had more money than she expected, which still wasn't saying much, and left a note for her parents.

She figured there had to be some sort of inn or B&B around there somewhere. No matter how much she hated bed-and-breakfasts she'd take what she could get.

"Um, excuse me." She said to a somewhat larger lady standing in the entrance of what appeared to be a restored barn. "Yes, honey?" She replied taking a drag of her Holly Golightly-esque cigarette. "I was just wondering if you could give me directions to a B&B or an inn. I just got here and I need someplace to stay for a couple of weeks."

"Oh sure honey. The Independence Inn is just down the road. Just keep walking and you'll find it. Can't miss."

"Thanks so much." Lorelai said with a smile. "No problem honey. You gonna be staying for a while?"

"I hope so."

"Well I'm Miss Patty. Anything you need, just ask."

"Thanks. My name's Lorelai." She said. Not wanting to give out her last name just yet in case her parents tracked her down.

I like this place, Lorelai thought as she walked down the road.

She rounded the last corner before the inn and nearly walked into a young man wearing a flannel shirt and a backwards baseball hat. "Sorry." He said quickly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"Alright." He said and continued walking.  
Lorelai watched him walk away for a second, shook her head, and then walked through the doors of the Independence Inn.


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I was waiting on my beta but I still haven't heard back from her so I decided to post the chapter anyways. I'm sincerely sorry. So there's no JJ-ness really in this chapter but there is in the next one I promise. Also I changed the title. Other one was to long and I've been listening to the song Never To Late by Three Days Grace alot lately. So I figured why not.**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing**

Chapter 5

2 weeks later, Lorelai was sitting in her room at the inn, counting her remaining cash. She has counted it out 3 times now and every time it came out the same. She needed to find a job fast or she'd be stuck on the streets. Or worse, back in Hartford with her parents.

She hadn't gone out much in the last 2 weeks. But she had befriended the new chef who had originally just been interning for the summer but had shown such talent in her first week and she was so friendly, they decided to hire her part time until she graduated.

Lorelai thought maybe Sookie would know of some places that might be hiring. And if Sookie didn't know Miss Patty would for sure. She seemed to know everything that was going on in the town.

Lorelai went downstairs to find Sookie. "Um, excuse me," she said to the lady behind the counter. She thought maybe it was the owner, Mia something or other. "I was wondering if Sookie was around. I wanted to ask her something."

Mia was aware of the growing friendship between the 2 girls and approved whole heartedly. There was something about the young Miss Gilmore that interested her. She seemed very sad and in desperate need of a friend. "I'm sorry Miss Gilmore but Sookie is gone for the day to visit relatives."

"Oh," Lorelai replied, disappointed. "Thanks anyways."

Lorelai went upstairs and grabbed her purse and headed out to find Miss Patty.

2 hours later, Lorelai walked through the foyer of the inn. Fighting back tears. She was completely exhausted and her job hunt had been unsuccessful to say the least. Spending 2 hours trying to convince people that they should hire a 16 year old pregnant girl with no prior work experience was something that was apparently beyond her abilities.

Lorelai sank into one of the couches in the lobby. Not having the energy to go upstairs to her room . Mia walked up to her and offered her a cup of coffee. "Thank you so much. You are definitely an angel in disguise."

"Well I don't know if I'd quite consider myself an angel, but thank you just the same. Long day?"

"Thats the understatement of the century. I just wasted 2 hours trying to convince people to hire me even though I'm 16, pregnant and have never actually had a job before."

"Well thats definitely not a good way to spend you time. You need a job?"

"Desperately, the money I had is pretty much gone so I am going to do that which no Gilmore has ever probably actually done before, work for minimum wage. I can hear the scandal from here."

"Well I am going to make you an offer. I need a new maid. And despite your lack of qualifications I am willing to hire you. I will also supply a place for you to stay. There's an old potting shed out back we can fix up for you so you have someplace of your own when the baby's born."

"Seriously?" Lorelai said in total shock. "Thats amazing. I'm not kidding, you really are an angel in disguise."

"Thank you. Now come one lets get this finalized."

3 hours later, Lorelai was sitting on her bed staring at her phone. She was gonna have to phone her parents sooner or later to let them know she was safe. She just wished it could be later. Much later. "Screw it," she said to herself and picked up the phone. "Might as well get this over with." The phone rang 3 times before someone picked et up.

"Hello?" Emily's voice came on the other end. Lorelai froze. Suddenly unable to think of anything to say. "Hello?" Emily said again. Getting irritated. "Blasted prank calls," she said as she went to hang up. "Mom wait," Lorelai suddenly blurted.

"Lorelai? Where are you? Your father and I have been worried sick."

"I'm someplace safe. I don't want you to know where I am right now. I need to get away and figure things out."

"Well why can't you do that here?"

"I'm pregnant mom. And I'm not raising my child in Hartford where it'll be constantly persecuted for being the bastard child of rape."

"Then get rid of the it! And come home Lorelai. This is where you belong!"

"Mother! How dare you say that about your grandchild. And I don't belong there. I never have."

Lorelai slammed the phone down and started to cry. How could the day go so wrong so fast? She got up and walked to bathroom and washed her face.

Then grabbed her razor and made 3 identical cuts on both arms. Not to deep, just enough to make the pain last. She took a shaky breath and smiled a sad smile. Wondering how she had let it go so far. She grabbed a couple of towels and cleaned the wounds, putting bandages on them for the night.

She knew, deep down why she didn't stop. It hurt like hell but felt so good. Finding that cutting was the only thing that made her feel normal again. She rubbed the scars on her arms and made a promise to herself that for her child she'd at least try to quit. She owed herself and her child that much. She'd have to try as hard as she could. She had to.


	6. Chapter 6

**OK so this chapter is un-betaed because I, once again in all my intelligence, managed to lose my beta's e-mail address. Sorry it took so long. My internets been on the fritz and the guys from the company are total idiots. I have the next chapter typed in already so that one should be up sooner. Just a reminded that I've written these already wonderful characters somewhat OOC to serve my purpose. And I have no idea how to write Mia so I'm just kind winging it there. Enough me, on with the story. **

**Disclaimer - I'll own Season 7 on tuesday. Thats as close as it gets.**

Chapter 6

Three weeks later, Lorelai stood in front of Luke's diner. When she first saw the diner, it had confused her because the original sign saying William's Hardware still hung over the door.

Mia had told her all about the town in the last three weeks. Luke Danes sentimentality about his dad, even though he'd never actually admit it to anyone, Miss Patty and Babbette Dell, the local gossip queens. Taylor Doose, grocer, selectman, and resident pain in the ass. Kirk Gleason, crazier than pretty much the entire town put together and then some.

She had told Mia everything. About Chris, the rape, being pregnant, her parents. Even the cutting. Although she hadn't actually intended for that to happen. Mia had seen the scars and asked Lorelai couldn't think of any good lies. So she told Mia the truth. Mia made her promise to stop and also told her that any time she felt the need to cut to just call her and she'd be there for her as quickly as she could possibly move.

Lorelai smiled at the memory and walked into the diner. "Sit down and I'll get to you when I get to you." A man in flannel said to her as she stepped through the door. "Flannel man." Lorelai said to herself as she took a seat at the counter. The guy sitting next to her turned and said, "Hi, I'm Kirk."

Lorelai remembered Mia telling her about him, the crazy guy who worked at every establishment in the town. "Hi, I'm Lorelai."

Satisfied that he had fulfilled his duty by greeting the apparently semi reclusive new person in town Kirk turned back to his sandwich.

"Luke, my sandwich is stale." He called. Luke stormed over to Kirk. "Well maybe if you didn't sit there staring at it for a half an hour and actually ate it, it wouldn't be stale."

"But I wasn't hungry when I ordered. Now I am and it's stale."

"Well then next time come here when you're hungry!"

Luke turned to Lorelai, "what can I get you?"

"Coffee and a cheeseburger, and more coffee please."

"You know that stuff can kill you right?"

"Well then at least I'll die a happy, happy death." Luke poured her coffee then walked into the kitchen muttering something about the whole town belonging in Arkham something or other. "And keep the coffee coming too." She called with a smile as she took a drink of her coffee.

That night, Lorelai went back to Luke's after she got off work. She didn't mind eating the kitchen leftovers Sookie saved her. They were actually really good. She just preferred her food fresh. Plus with a little extra cash Mia had given her to start off with. That she had promised to pay back as soon as possibly of course, and Luke's amazing coffee, she knew she'd be a regular there.

There were only a couple of people in the diner and she didn't recognize either of them, so she sat at the counter where she had sat earlier.

Luke came out from the kitchen. "Hey what can I get you?"

"Just coffee please."

"Alright, I remember you. You were in here earlier."

"That would be me. What's Arkham?"

"Ever read Batman?" Lorelai shook her head. "It's the insane asylum in the Batman comics."

"I see. Honestly I'm not a comic book person."

"I haven't read them in years. Used to read them all the time but I guess I kinda grew out of it."

"Ah but it still qualifies you as a geek my friend. That and the Star Trek shirt your wearing underneath your flannel one."

Lorelai said laughing as Luke hastily buttoned up his flannel shirt to cover the tell tale Star Trek logo.

Mia walked in just then and saw Lorelai laughing and talking with Luke. She smiled at the sight. She had never seen Lorelai so happy. Maybe a friendship with Luke would be good for her. God knows she deserved to have a good guy in her life after what happened. She was fitting in so well, she deserved to be happy. "Hello Lorelai, Lucas."

"Hey Mia," they both said , Lorelai gave her a hug. "What can I get you Mia?"

"Tea please, Lucas. I don't share Lorelai's addiction to massive amounts of coffee."

"I don't think anyone does."

"Speaking of which, Luke I need more coffee."

"So none of what I said earlier mattered to you at all?"

"Oh it mattered. I'm sure to someone, somewhere out there it mattered. But that someone wasn't me. Its kinda sweet/creepy you know, that you care so much about my health and you don't even know my name."

"I know your name. Its Lorelai."

"How do you know my name?"

"I heard Mia say it when she came in."

"Well then, Lucas, what's your last name?"

"Its Danes and Mia's the only one allowed to call me Lucas."

"OK. I'll remember that. How about Lukie?"

"No."

"Please."

"No. What's yours?"

"Come again?"

"Last name. What's yours?"

"Gilmore. I think you should change your name to Yoda."

"Now who's the geek?"

"Tell me who doesn't know who Yoda is?"

"Kirk."

"Stale sandwich guy?"

"Yeah."

"That explains everything."

They all started laughing when a voice Lorelai had hoped not to hear for a very long time rang out in the now empty diner.

"Lorelai Gilmore."

The laughter stopped and Lorelai turned to face the intruder. "Mother," she said, angry. "What the hell do you think your doing here?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry it took so long, between my job and my beta's school/net issues it took longer than I thought. But here it is. So enjoy and please review. And thanks to gilmorefanforever for noticing the typo in the title.**

**Disclaimer - I own nothing**

Chapter 7

Lorelai turned so she was half hiding behind Mia, and Luke had moved  
around the counter. He knew he didn't know Lorelai that well, but she  
seemed scared and he wanted to help.

"Why are you here, Mother?" Lorelai asked again.

"Well I thought since my runaway daughter was here I'd come and take her home."

"I'm not leaving. How did you find me anyway?"

"I hired a private detective."

"Oh, how very concerned mother of you."

"I am your mother. I have a right to be concerned, and to bring you home."

"You're just worried that all your society friends will find out I'm  
pregnant and I refuse to get rid of the baby. God forbid the Gilmore  
name have such a stain on it! Well deal with it mother! I'm not going  
back!"

"You don't have a choice!"

"I'll just keep leaving!"

"I have a solution." Mia said loudly before the fighting could get any  
worse. "Lorelai is already employed at my inn. What if she were to  
move in with me where I can keep an eye on her. I can guarantee she'll  
be safe. Nothing ever really happens here." Mia said as she put her  
arm around Lorelai protectively. "I think in the end she'll be happier  
here."

"How would you know?" Emily asked angrily.

"Well if she was happy with you would she have left in the first  
place?" Luke asked.

Emily looked shocked that someone would talk to her like that. "Fine,"  
she said. "I'll send the rest of your things tomorrow." She turned  
around and left.

Lorelai let out a breath she had been holding in, slowly. "Thanks. I  
guess I should start packing."  
"Tomorrow will be soon enough. I'll go get the spare room ready.  
Lucas, will you walk Lorelai home?" She asked knowing he had questions  
about what had just transpired.

"Sure Mia. I'll have Caesar close." With the assurance that Lorelai  
would get home all right, Mia left.

"So I guess you're wondering what that was all about, right?"

"Well," Luke replied, half shrugging his shoulders. "Your mother seems  
like a formidable woman."

"Oh she is. Royal pain in the ass, really. It drives her insane that I  
refuse to conform to her societal ideals and the standards of the  
Hartford elite." She said with great dramatic emphasis.

"Oh so your mother's one of those mothers."

"Oh yeah. She makes all these plans, never bothering to tell you about  
them or to make sure your okay with it. And her bizarre standards are  
so high so when you fail them she freaks out on you and your left  
standing there not knowing what the hell just happened. Years of  
experience, trust me."

"No wonder you ran away."

Lorelai nodded. Her hand going to her stomach protectively.

Luke walked around the counter and poured Lorelai a to-go cup of  
coffee. "Here, its getting cool out."

"November in Connecticut. Gotta love it." Luke smiled.

"Caesar can you close? I've gotta go out."

"Sure boss." He called from the kitchen.

"So I guess your wondering what that was about. I mean you are bound  
to be my best friend considering you supply me with coffee. I guess  
you should hear the sad story of the last, what? Two months of my  
life."

"You don't have to if you don't want to."  
"I want to. You stuck up for me and you barely know me. You deserve to know."

"Alright then, go for it."

"Okay,so you have to keep in mind I've only told this story once  
before, so it won't be easy for me." Luke nodded.

"Okay. Well ...two months ago I was raped twice by my now ex-boyfriend."

Luke looked at her in shock and concern. "That kind of explains a lot  
right there."

Lorelai nodded. "It gets worse though so please don't interrupt."  
Luke nodded. "Two weeks later I found out I was pregnant. That's when  
I decided to run away. I knew I couldn't raise my baby in that world.  
My parents barely even raised me. So I decided to run away. I managed  
to find Stars Hollow and I moved here. Things had been going pretty  
well since Mia hired me. Until today. I knew she'd find me eventually.  
I had just hoped it wouldn't be until after the baby's born."

They had just reached the inn. Lorelai led him to the back porch and  
they sat down on the swing.

"That's rough. But at least things are getting better. Even slowly."  
Lorelai nodded but looked away. Luke could see the tears in her eyes  
in the twilight.

"Hey, c'mere." He said taking her now empty coffee cup and setting it  
down as he pulled her into a hug.

"It just got so hard," Lorelai said sobbing. "I couldn't feel anything  
normal at all. All I wanted was to wake up and find out it had all  
been a bad dream. It never happened though. So I started cutting. I  
knew I shouldn't but it felt so good. I felt normal again. Like maybe  
everything might be okay. I was finally able to stop three weeks ago.  
Mia's helped so much. God, why can't my mother be more like her?" Luke  
just sat there cradling her for several minutes until her sobs  
subsided.

"Hey," he said softly. "I know this sounds weird considering we just  
met, but anytime you need someone, I'll be here, no matter what.  
Okay?" Lorelai nodded against his chest. "Come on. Lets get you to  
your room."

Lorelai, in a daze, led him to her temporary room just behind thekitchen. She opened the door and he walked her in.

"Is there anything else you need, Lorelai?" She just stood there for a  
long minute, not saying anything. "Lorelai?" He said again, touching  
her arm softly. "Do you need anything?"

She looked up at him, her eyes showing how scared she was. "Can you  
stay with me, Luke? Please? I can't be alone right now. I don't know  
what I might do."

"Sure. Yeah, I can do that."

"Thank you. Can you turn around so I can change. All my razors are in  
the bathroom." Luke obliged and turned around. A minute or two passed.

"You can turn around now."

Lorelai had climbed into bed. "There's a chair in the hallway you can  
bring in." Luke brought it in and set it down next to her bed. "  
'Night Lorelai." He said quietly.

"Goodnight, Luke," she replied

The next morning, Lorelai woke up to find Luke gone, but with a note  
on the chair. "Lorelai," the note read. "Had to go open the diner.  
Come for breakfast. On me. Luke."

Lorelai smiled as she rolled over on her bed. God, she was glad she  
found this place.


End file.
